Baby Come Back
by x Rajah x
Summary: Very AU. Mimi convinces Roger to rethink leaving for Santa Fe, but at what cost? Songfic to Come to Your Senses from tick, tick... BOOM!


Title: Baby Come Back

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Angst

Summary: Very AU. Oneshot. Mimi convinces Roger to rethink leaving for Santa Fe, but at what cost[Songfic to Come to Your Senses, from tick, tick... BOOM!

Notes:

I discovered tick, tick... BOOM! and I love it. This is my second songfic involving it. And it may not be my last. I have another song in mind, but I'm not 100 percent sure yet.

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It was the climax of fall.

She had watched the threads of her relationship with Roger crumble slowly and fade in brilliance, until they finally gave way and fell from the sky, crunching under her boots like the leaves.

The loss of Angel still such a raw wound, she was sensitive to the touch, and the news that Roger was truly planning on leaving her, driving miles and miles away from her when she needed him most, hit her hard.

And although she'd been trapped in a rough spot lately, the drugs and disease finally beginning to wilt her small frame, Roger's adamant refusal to stay in New York not only filled her with blinding sadness, but somewhere, deep within her heart, a crescent of hope and determination blossomed.

There were times when Mimi Marquez could be just as stubborn as he was.

This was one of those times.

He said he needed his glory, his song, his one blaze.

She shook her head sadly, brown glossy curls gleaming in the moonlight. No, she told herself. "It can't end this way!" She exclaimed aloud, tears choking her words. And with strength she didn't know she had, she bolted down the stairs as if her life depended on it.

Perhaps because she had the distinct feeling tht her life did depend on it.

She appeared in the doorframe just as he had started the ignition, and she found a strangled cry escaping her throat, something animalistic and purely instinctive.

He glanced up, his green eyes full of a dull and faded light.

She collapsed against the hood of his car, fighting for breath.

Instantly, he had withdrawn the keys and leapt from the car. He was at her side, helping her to stand, his face wrought with concern.

"Mimi..." He murmured, holding her steady. "Mimi... you shouldn't have..."

She shook her head furiously, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. "Roger, I won't let you leave."

"Mimi..." He said again, with a small, sad sigh. "This is something I have to do. Please... don't do this."

"Something you have to do?" Mimi repeated numbly, staggering back a step. A tiny flood of anger burst through the dam she'd formed around her mind. "Why? Because you need to find that glory, that meaning... that purpose?"

Roger exhaled through his nostrils, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Well, Roger... you don't know it, but your place is here. Your family... the one that needs you, is here. And your glory is here too." She sniffled as he finally met her gaze. "You've just pulled this... this veil over your own eyes and you fail to see it!"

Roger leaned on the car, at a loss for words, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He shook his head slowly, as she shook with the chill of the night air and the emotion that was rippling through her.

"You're on the air, I'm underground..." She began slowly, watching him for a reaction. "...signal's fading, can't be found."

He turned from her, closing his eyes, trying to shut out her pleading.

"I finally open up..." She continued, pretending not to notice his dismissal.

"For you, I would do anything!"

He stiffened as she came to his side, her arm brushing his. He shuddered and walked away, as if physical contact with her caused him pain.

She bristled at this. Filled with even more resolve, she half-yelled, "But you've turned off the volume just when I've begun to sing!"

She watched his only defense, hiding himself deeper within the shell he'd created. Deciding not to approach him again so suddenly, she propped herself against the car and let her eyes roam over him as he blew foggy breaths into the cold air.

"Come to your senses." She begged. "Defenses are not the way to go."

He eyed her sideways, and she sent him a tiny, mirthless grin. "And you know...or at least you knew."

His face remained calm as ever, but his eyes betrayed him, swimming with uncertainty.

She took this as a sign and pressed on. "Everything's strange, you've changed! And I don't know what to do to get through..." Her words, coming from a person of such usual strength and open-mindedness toward the future, faltered the armor that Roger bore. "...I don't know what to do!"

He looked almost worried for her, for just and instant, but then seemed to catch himself, and he frowned, sinking back into his unyielding stance.

She giggled softly, which she knew surprised him, try though he did to hide it. "I have to laugh; you sure put on a show." She remarked, hoping to coax any trace of a smile from him. He just scowled.

She sighed and let the car support her weight. "Love is passé in this day and age..." She whispered. "How can we expect it to grow?"

When he failed to answer, she forced herself to stand straight and planted herself closer to him. "You as the night...!" She sang passionately, "Me as the dream."

He merely looked at her and she didn't dare delve into his potential thoughts, too lost in her own anyway.

"All I've got tonight is static on a screen." She finished, and he opened his mouth a bit, as if to say something, but shook his head again, looking ashamed of himself for almost speaking.

"Come to your senses!" She pleaded, "The fences inside are not for real...if we feel as we did." Pausing for a moment, she worked up the nerve and stated, "And I do!"

"Can't you recall when this all began?" She implored, grabbing hold of his shoulder as she neared, feeling him flinch, then steadily relax beneath her touch."It was only you and me..."

"It was only me and you." He spoke finally, his voice nearly hoarse as he watched her start at his sudden reply. "But now the air is..." He said vacantly, looking into her chocolate brown eyes. "...filled with confusion. We replace care with illusion." She shook her head slightly, not liking his words as he continued. "It's cool to be cold, nothing lasts anymore! Love becomes disposable, this is the shape of things...we cannot ignore."

She shied away from him, eyes large and full of moisture. "Come to your senses! Suspense is fine if your just an empty image emanating out of a screen!"

He took a breath, then protested. "But Mimi... I need my glory... my song...!"

She grew frustrated, and half-shouted. "Baby, be real, you can feel again! You don't need a music box melody, to know what I mean!"

A bolt of confusion crossed his face and she pulled forward, staring directly up into his glassy, now tear-filled eyes. "Deep in my eyes, what do you see?" She asked him meaningfully. "Deep in my sighs...listen to me! Let the music commence from inside...not only one sense, but use all five!"

He stared at her and her at him, before she whispered to him, wrapping her skinny arms around his neck. "Roger... I love you, and I beg you: don't do this!"

A beat.

Then, a slow, lopsided smile dragged his lips upward and he kissed her deeply. Pulling back, he saw in her eyes everything he'd ever wanted and dreamed of, evrything he'd ever needed and hoped for. His glory.

And she crumpled into his arms, suddenly not feeling so weak or alone.

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Mimi, with Roger's help, pulled through and got clean, making the winter a rough one and the spring a relief.

It wasn't until late the next fall that Mimi found herself once again pleading with her love, this time from the side of a hospital bed.

He lay within the starchy white sheets, he himself looking more pale than the fabric, and she laced her hand in his clammy, feverish one, eyes clouding over with tears she didn't notice.

She pressed her lips to his for the thousandth time, and she saw only him, as he managed a weak smile, and rasped through an airy, unfamiliar voice, "I love you..."

She shook her head sadly, brushing a stray curl behind her ear with her free hand.

She didn't need to say "I love you too."

He fell in and out of awareness, sometimes reveling in her presence, sometimes distantly watching her, as if he believed she wasn't truly there. His eyes faded from their sparkling green to a dullish color that reminded her of dried seaweed. Terrible, chest-heaving coughs racked his thinning body, and she quite frequently pressed a cold towel to his forehead, though it did little to aid him.

"Come to your senses..." She whispered into his ear softly, lovingly as she watched the nurse insert a new IV into his arm.

"Come to your senses..." She begged as he watched her listlessly, unable to speak, having lost his voice to his raw throat, plugged by a breathing tube.

"Come to your senses..." She sobbed as he said goodbye silently, his bony fingers tracing circles into her dark curls and stroking her arms comfortingly.

"Baby come back..." She said slowly, just after the heart monitor flat-lined and medical staff bustled into the room.

She was rushed out of the room and into the hallway. Tears flowing in rivers down her face, she looked to the ceiling. "...alive!"

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Gah, I killed Roger. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! HOW DEPRESSING!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I really didn't want to do that. But here's why I did:

One- most of the time, everyone assumes that Mimi, after that Christmas Eve, wouldn't have lasted much longer, much less outlasted Roger. I like being different.

Two- Since Roger never went to Santa Fe, we can assume that since he was by Mimi's side, she was able to pull through her rough spot and withdrawal, and she never did become much sicker.

Three- It's AU, deal with it.

For the record, I love that song. It is BEAUTIFUL.

So there you have it. Yet another oneshot completed. Let me know what you thought, unless you hated it, keep the flaming to yourself.


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